Apple’s Market Cap Drops Below $1 Trillion

Stock market’s plunge tied to coronavirus pandemic leaves only Microsoft in vaunted club

Apple Inc.’s market capitalization closed below $1 trillion Monday, leaving its longtime rival Microsoft Corp. as the only U.S. company left in the trilliondollar club.

Shares of Apple fell 2.1% to close at $224.37, part of a broad selloff fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and jitters over U.S. lawmakers’ ability to pass a giant fiscal stimulus bill. At that price, the tech giant’s market cap is about $982 billion.

Apple’s market cap had been above $1 trillion since October. At its peak, on Feb. 12, the iPhone maker was worth about $1.4 trillion. But since then, its stock has fallen 31% as emergency measures to contain the pandemic have disrupted the U.S. economy, costing jobs and damping consumer spending. The S&P 500 has fallen 34% over the same period.

The technology sector hasn’t dropped as far as other more hardhit segments like energy and financials. And some tech stocks—such as video-conferencing software maker Zoom Video Communications Inc. —have actually climbed as millions of Americans have been forced to work from home and lead more of their lives online.

Still, Apple hasn’t been immune to the pandemic and its economic ripple effects. Last week, the iPhone maker said it would close all of its stores outside Greater China until further notice, an update from its earlier announcement to close them until March 27. Earlier this month, it reopened its Chinese stores after closing them to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

Apple also was the first major U.S. company to say that it wouldn’t meet its quarterly revenue projections due to the coronavirus outbreak, an announcement that came Feb. 17, before the impact of the virus had become clear to most investors.

Only four U.S. companies have ever been valued above $1 trillion, based on their daily closing prices: Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple and Microsoft.

Today, Microsoft is still a member of the trillion-dollar club, but just barely, with a market cap of $1.03 trillion. Amazon is now worth $947 billion, while Alphabet is worth $725 billion.

Overseas, Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco is worth about $1.5 trillion. Its valuation hit $2 trillion soon after its initial public offering in December, but it has since slid as slumping global energy demand and a Saudi-Russian price war have pummeled oil prices.